Rail bond



W. F. HART y,

RAIL BOND Filed Sept. 22, 1922 @MKM vPatented Nov. 24, 1925i.

UNITED 'STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM F. HART, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO VERONA TOOL IVORKS, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

RAIL BOND.

Application led September 22, 1922. Serial No. 589,790.

fo all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, WILLIAM F. I-IART, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Rail Bonds, of which the following is a i'ull, clear, and exact description.

The present invention relates broadly to railway track bonds and more particularly to bonds having generally resilient characteristics and adapted to be clamped in position between the webs of the rail ends to be bonded and the ish plate ior the rail joint.

It has heretofore been proposed to construct rail bonds of this general character of resilient material having rail web engaging points and curved either longitudinally, transversely, or both, to increase the strength of the bond and insure a better' contact between the ends thereof and the rail webs. In most cases, however, suoli bonds have not been constructed with regard to economy of manufacture and weight of material. This is illustrated by reference, for example, to the patent to Marsellis No. 588,771 of August 24, 1897. In view of the duty which bonds of this nature perform, it is not essential that they contain a large amount of materia-l so long as a good contact with the rail ends is provided.

By the present invention there is provided a rail bond of minimum cost and Weight and ot' suoli construction that an etlicient track circuit for the operation of signals is insured.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown, for purposes of illustration only, certain embodiments of the present invention, it being understood that these drawings do not define the limits of this invention changes may obviously be made in the construction and operation disclosed without departing from the spirit or scope oi' my broader claims.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a sectional view through a portion of a rail joint showing one form of track bond in position;

Figure 2 is a side elevation oi' the construction illustrated in Figure l, the iish plates being removed and the clamping bolts being in section;

Figure 3 is a plan view illustrating one manner of producing bonds of the construetion shown in Figures l and 2;

Figures 4, 5 and 6 are views, corresponding to Figure 3, illustrating slightly modified forms of bonds;

Figure '7 is a transverse sectional view through the bond illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, and

Figure 8 is a longitudinal sectional view through the bond oi said figures.

referring more particularly to Figures 1, 2, 7 and 8 oi' the drawings, there is shown a portion oi a track point comprising rail sections 2 and 3, the joint between which is bridged in usual manner by fish plates 4.

Between the center bolts 5 which hold the iish plates in position there is usually suiicient room for the insertion of a track bond 6 constructed. in accordance with this invention. Such a bond may comprise a body of resilient material curved either longitudinally, transversely, or both, the latter construction being illustrated in these figures. rIhe ends ot the bond are formed to provide a plurality oit triangularly shaped points 7, which points are adapted to cut through the scale or rust on the rail webs and form therewith good electrical contact.

After a bond is placed in position between thecenter plates, it will be apparent that as the lish plates are drawn into position, they will press upon the center portion of the bond and thereby cause the points 7 to Aforcibly penetrate any coating on the rail webs.

In Figure 3 there is illustrated one inanner of producing the bonds illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 7 and 8. Due to the shape ot the bonds, they may be conveniently `formed by stamping from a suitable body ot material. The shape of the bonds is also such that a maximum number of bonds may be produced from a sheet of given size, this result being obtained by reason of the fact that the bonds are of gradually decreasing width toward the points whereby an interlocking relationship exists between adjacent blanks. During the stamping operation, it will be apparent that the bonds may be given the curvature which is desired in the iinished article.

In Figure 4L there-is illustrated a bond Ga having triangularly shaped rail engaging points 7a. In this construction there is provided a single point at one end of the bond and a pair of points at the opposite end.

Figure 5 illustrates another modification in which the bond 6b is formed with a single point 7b at each end, while in Figure G there is shown a bond G of generally diamond shape.

All of the bonds illustrated herein are of such nature that they may be curved either in one direction only or in both directions, as `any curvature will be sulicient to bring the rail engaging points into position where they will be operative as desired. In each case also the points are located adjacent the inost distant extremities of the body,v

and the body is of minimum width adjacent these points, the body being of gradually decreasing width toward the points. This facilitates the formation of the bonds and enables the blanks to be marked ofi' in overlapping relationship whereby all of the metal stock is conserved and utilized.

The advantages of the `present invention arise from the provision of a rail track bond of minimum weight coupled with maximum strength and efficiency.

I claim:

1. A rail bond formed of spring sheet material, having curved triangularly shaped rail. engaging points extending longitudinally therefrom and in opposite directions, said points being so shaped and positioned that the portions out away to form the points on the bond blanks, when blanking` from a sheet, will form the points of other bond blanks.

2. A rail bond formed of spring sheet material, having triangularly shaped i'ailengaging points curved intwo directions and extending iongitudinally therefrom in opposite directions, said points being so shaped andpositioned that the portions cut away to form the points of the bond blanks, when bianking from a sheet, will forni the points of other blanks.

'In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

WILLIAM F. HART. 

